Archives for November 2009

I often turn to Fr. Hardon for advice, becaue he always gives the straight poop. Here he is on chastity:

Giving into one’s lustful drives is irrational. Chastity is more than prudent self-control. To practice chastity there must be chastity of the eyes, chastity of the ears, chastity of thought and chastity of desire.

The Holy Eucharist is the principal source we have for obtaining the distinctive grace we need to practice Christian chastity.

Grace permits us to surrender our wills to the will of God. Grace directs our will to command our reproductive powers to conform to the will of Jesus Christ.

About 150 AD, Diognetus, a learned Greek expressed a desire to know what Christianity really means and asked. “What is this new race of men who are neither pagans nor Jews?” In the Letter to Diognetus the answer is given.

Like others, Christians also marry and have children, but they do not expose these children. They do not kill their children. Christians share their meals, but not their wives. They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven.

Frequent, even daily assistance at Mass is a powerful source of chaste living. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a reservoir of divine strength against the demon of lust for all mankind.

I’ve been reading articles and blog posts by John J. Miller for years over at National Review, and I was only half surprised to find out that he was publishing his first novel. The First Assassin is an historical novel that takes place at the beginning of the Civil War, and seems as though it will be a nice complement to Gore Vidal’s Lincoln (just kidding, John!). Having finally finished The Killer Angels a few weeks ago, I’m ready for another fictional take on the Civil War era.

I was surprised to learn that Miller self-published the book through CreateSpace, the latest incarnation of BookSurge the print-on-demand press so strongly associated with amazon.com. As he describes his publishing odyssey on his website:

The spine of The First Assassin includes the title of the book and my name as author. At the bottom, there’s also a small publisher’s logo: a W with a box around it. That stands for Woodbridge Press, my own imprint.

So what is the Woodbridge Press? It’s my attempt at entrepreneurship, an opportunity that puts me in charge of every aspect of The First Assassin. I’m not only the writer but also the publisher and publicist.

The First Assassin is available exclusively online through a new print-on-demand service: If you order a copy, they’ll print one and mail it to you. My partner is CreateSpace.com, a subsidiary of Amazon.com. During this “soft launch” phase, The First Assassin may be purchased only through CreateSpace.com (here). Soon, it will also be listed on Amazon.com.

I’m impressed, and I think it shows how years of hard work may be required to produce a successful novel. And I’m not even referring to the actual writing of the novel, which Miller has apparently been working on for a number of years. Having already published non-fiction and established a career as a journalist with a fairly large profile at National Review, Miller is in a great position to market the novel. While I’m not sure this model works as well for authors with a smaller cyber footprint, it may not be long before POD options like CreateSpace are the only way to go. As Miller explains:

When I finished writing The First Assassin, I tried to sell it to a traditional publisher the old fashioned way, as I had done with my previous books of non-fiction. Yet I couldn’t find a publisher that was willing to take a chance on a first-time novelist during the worst economy of our lives. I didn’t exhaust my options in this area, but I did start to explore alternatives.

So best of luck to John Miller and The First Assassin. I’m ordering a copy, and will try to get a review up at Korrektiv soon. Hey, I just realized I’m now a part of Miller’s viral marketing scheme!

Molly doesn’t like Lancelot … but I do.

Don’t miss Big Jon, Bully’s recent forays into fiction at Korrektiv Supplemental.

Pre-enactment of a scene from the upcoming 2012 Korrektiv Summit/Spa Month in Greece

Not Acts, but from somewhere in Hezekiah, wasn’t it?

The Lord helps those who help themselves by helping them help themselves.